Brian Windhorst: Kyrie Irving ‘Clearly Not In Love’ Playing With LeBron James
ESPN writer Brian Windhorst said on his weekly ESPN Cleveland radio show that Kyrie Irving is “clearly not in love” playing with LeBron James, and the problem is just one of many facing the Cleveland Cavaliers heading into the All-Star break.
There’s discord in Cavs country, and firing David Blatt wasn’t the remedy to cure all.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst took to the airwaves during his weekly “Hey, Windy!” radio show Jan. 29, to get real with the state of the Cavaliers.
Windy seemed irritated his Hawaiian vacation was interrupted by the Cavs firing Blatt, and the northeast Ohio native didn’t hesitate in his opportunity to get “real” about what’s going on inside Quicken Loans Arena.
Much has been made about Kevin Love‘s struggles under Blatt, and while Love is pouting about how he’s used, the most alarming dynamic to worry about is the on-court relationship between Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
Windhorst has wrote frequently on the how the Cavs’ world changed when LeBron James decided to return to Cleveland in the summer of 2014. If you recall, only David Blatt and Kyrie Irving were on board before the Cavs re-signed James. Irving had just signed a five-year, $90 million extension to stay in Cleveland. Blatt was supposed to coach a young, inexperienced team.
And then James came back, and while many players dream of playing with LeBron, Windhorst insinuates that it wasn’t in Kyrie’s plans. The three-time All-Star had to adjust his game with James on board and it took some time for the two to mesh in year one.
The duo made it work. until Irving busted his knee cap in the Finals.
Now, Irving is apparently a little salty with how things are being run, because of all the talk about basketball analytics, picking up the pace, and moving the ball.
"“You’ve got Kyrie Irving, who clearly isn’t in love with playing with LeBron James. I think he tries to make the best of it. And I admire the fact that he changed his game last year, when at the start he thought it was going to be different…he’s still coming back from a knee injury and you know this…there’s no such thing as a minor knee injury. And he’s not 100 percent at all. And he doesn’t like it when he hears the more you pass, the better the team goes, because he thinks it’s an affront to him because he holds the ball and dribbles so much. So he’s not in the greatest mood, either.”"
But as frustrated as Irving may be, he’s on the best team in the East. Before LeBron, Kyrie’s NBA career consisted of losing season after losing season.
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Life is better for Irving because the Cavs win with LeBron, but the point Windy tried to drive home is Kyrie didn’t sign to play with LeBron.
Last week’s firing of Blatt was just the tip of the ice berg, because the Cavs’ problems are starting to look like your grocery list on the eve of a winter storm.
Irving thinks things could be going better. Love is pouting, and LeBron doesn’t like the coach-killer label.
Did James go into Griffin’s office and say, “Fire Blatt!” No, but as Windhorst put it. “He didn’t drop the hammer, but he put the hammer on the table…and that’s absolutely true.”
Timofey Mozgov, a free-agent-to-be, has seen his numbers take a hit this season. He had a knee injury, came back too fast, and while it once looked like a $20 million per season contract was in his future, the upcoming offseason is now full of uncertainty for the Russian big man.
Windy even shed some light on Matthew Dellavedova‘s contract status. Delly is the ultimate pro, so he’d never go public, but Windhorst indicated that the Aussie wasn’t to happy with how his new contract worked out this summer. Everyone else who regularly plays got paid…except Delly.
Delly was an unrestricted free agent last summer, and signed a one-year deal for $1.2 million. He’ll be unrestricted after this season.
Next: Kyrie Irving Ignores Basketball Analytics
With the NBA playoffs 2 1/2 months away, new coach Tyronn Lue has his work cut out for himself.